Not Applicable.
The present invention relates to weighing equipment and, more particularly, to a method and system for receiving error messages at a location remote from the weighing equipment sending the error message.
Weighing equipment is typically used to weigh semi-trailer trucks and railroad cars and engines at various points on a highway or railroad not limited to this specific application. It can also be used in all industrial applications commonly found in the process control industry. At these weighing stations various systems are utilized to weigh the equipment and then to process that information and report the information to the scale operator. Some of these weighing systems may include load cells and sectional controllers that electronically receive weight information and transfer the weight information on to an instrument control system that reports the information to the user at the scale site. Information such as diagnostic information and error information is also reported to the operator at the scale site. This information ensures that the scale is operational and running at its peak level of performance.
These electronic scales typically have the capability to show some types of error messages to the scale user at the site. This, while useful information, has the disadvantage in that it is displayed only to the operator at the scale. Thus, if the operator is not at the scale when the error is displayed or is reported, the error may go unnoticed.
Additionally, error messages and diagnostic messages from the scale system may be reported at odd working hours when the operator is not present to view or receive the message. This may cause the operator to miss an urgent message that may require servicing of the scale at that immediate moment and, if it is not done, the scale may fail to operate properly.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a method and system that reports diagnostic and error information to a central location that is remote to the scale site. Moreover, there is a need for such a method system that is more efficient and reliable and provides scale operators an early warning system to reduce scale downtime and/or eliminate erroneous scale readings.
Generally described, a remote error reporting system on weighing equipment is provided. The system includes a load sensing apparatus, a scale instrument operably coupled with the load sensing apparatus to receive weight load data and a service center device in communication with the scale instrument to receive the weight load data.
In another aspect of the invention, a method in a computer system for reporting weighing equipment performance data from one or more scales is provided. In accordance with the method, load sensing data is obtained from each of the one or more scales and is transmitted to a service center. The transmitted load sensing data is then processed at the service center. Finally, response data is sent by the service center and received at each of the one or more scales.
By providing a method and system for remotely reporting errors on weighing equipment, numerous advantages are realized. For example, the reporting system of the present invention provides error and diagnostic information for one or more scales to a central service center allowing scale operators to efficiently respond to scale operation problems. As such, the present system significantly reduces erroneous error readings and scale downtime.